Antiabortion Groups Target States With One Abortion Provider

July 18, 2012 — While the fight plays out over a Mississippi law (HB 1390) that adds new restrictions on abortion providers, abortion-right opponents are pushing similar measures in other states that have only one surgical abortion provider, Politico Pro reports.

Jim Soderna, a spokesperson for Missionaries for the Preborn, said his group is targeting four states in addition to Mississippi -- Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming -- with the goal of forcing their last clinics to close. Shawn Carney, a spokesperson for 40 Days for Life, said volunteers in those states hope to bring about "the first abortion-free state where abortion is legal but it's simply not available."

Tammi Kromenaker, director of the only abortion clinic in North Dakota, said, "States with only one provider get a lot of attention from people who are opposed to the care that we offer." Kromenaker said her clinic has faced "legislative attacks in every session of recent history" and that abortion-rights opponents "take it as a success" whenever anything "happens in states where there's only one provider."

Kromenaker and physician Brent Blue, who is the only abortion provider in Wyoming, said they are keeping a close watch on the Mississippi case to see how it could affect their states (Smith, Politico Pro, 7/18).